


Save Me

by FangsofSin



Category: Video Blogging RPF, Who Killed Markiplier? (Web Series), jacksepticeye, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:41:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27528613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FangsofSin/pseuds/FangsofSin
Summary: They’ve escaped the mirror... Now DA Y/N’s story is really starting to play out... But are they playing or is someone else playing for them?OrAfter years stuck in the Upside-Down version of the Manor, Y/N escapes with a new body, a new friend, and a connection back to her old friend Damien... Who isn’t himself now... But Y/N has missed a lot during their enslavement and things aren’t as simple as they should be...
Relationships: Abe | The Detective & Y/N | The District Attorney (Who Killed Markiplier?), Antisepticeye/Y/N | The District Attorney, Celine | The Seer & Damien | The Mayor (Who Killed Markiplier?), Celine | The Seer/Mark Fischbach, Celine | The Seer/Wilford Warfstache | William J. Barnum | The Colonel, Damien | The Mayor/Y/N | The District Attorney (Who Killed Markiplier?), Mark Fischbach & Y/N | The District Attorney, Y/N | The District Attorney & The Host/The Author
Comments: 18
Kudos: 52





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Funny enough, the song “(You’re The) Devil in Disguise” by Elvis Presley and “Teeth” by 5 Seconds of Summer, were what inspired this... And sooo many different art pieces and people on Tumblr!

Y/N can’t remember exactly how everything played out that night. If you were to ask them, Y/N would only be able to say that one minute they were arguing with William and trying to stop him. The next, they were falling with the Colonel reaching out for them as they tumbled from a balcony overlooking the foyer, bleeding to death and breaking their neck… They had died. Then… Then, well, Y/N was kind of stumped. Because they woke up… For a split second they were standing and William was babbling something about not having killed anyone, running around the estate to look for his friends. And Y/N had looked in a mirror… But then they were looking out of the mirror and watching their body walk away… Now Y/N was here. Had been here for lord knows how long. Trapped in a reflection of the manor with no one else but sadistic whispers of the past and from the so called void that had taken over the old estate.

The first few days? Weeks? Y/N wasn’t sure, but their first few moments in the mirror were spent trying to find a way through the mirror, studying every crack and every corner. Trying to find some kind of weakness. They had cut their hand more times than they could count, but no blood was ever fully shed. It never dripped from their hand, just smeared the glass occasionally. The next moments were banging on the mirror and calling out for help. Calling for Abe or The Chef or the Butler, anyone… They screamed for so long, they lost their voice for a while…

The other moment of their existence in the realm, they learned that every reflective surface was accessible, but the foyer mirror had the clearest view of the outside world. So Y/N spent much time sitting in front of it, staring hungrily out at the outside world. Y/N had practically memorized the fading blood splatter that was made from their fall. Could count every imperfection in the paint on the wall across from the mirrors view…

It was at one moment that the silence of the room was broken. Y/N’s head was in their lap. They didn’t need to sleep in this realm, but it made them still feel human to sleep. And it helped the time to pass. It seemed some time had passed since they’d slumbered. The silence of the estate was being broken by… Rather obnoxious and energetic voices.

Straightening, Y/N pressed against the mirror’s surface, focusing as best they could…. Someone was out there! Hope flared in their chest. This could be it! This could help them get out! Standing, Y/N ran the length of the void’s version of the manor, looking through every reflective surface until they spotted people… Actual, living people.

They weren’t dressed in any familiar way to Y/N, but it was two twin men. One was carrying what appeared to be a strange camera while the other was talking in a strange version of a microphone… And they were rolling around and running back and forth from room to room rather oddly. In fact, the one with the strange microphone was walking like a crab sometimes?

“Don’t turn away help, Y/N, they might be the only ones we get…” Y/N muttered to themselves, feeling uncertain these two men could help them. Taking in a breath, Y/N yelled as loud as they could, banging on the surface of the glass of the old grandfather clock near the family room where the men were.

At first it seemed they didn’t hear Y/N. And desperation made Y/N become as loud as they ever had, hitting the surface harder and harder until, surprisingly, the reflective glass cracked and shattered loudly beside the men, making them yelp, their camera pointing right at the clock.

“Holy- Jim! Jim, did you see that Jim?” the one with the microphone asked as the other nodded wildly, Y/N almost laughing at how comical and confounded the two looked. But just so happy that they heard that!

“I sure did, Jim… What happened to it? You break it, Jim?” the one with the strange camera asked and Y/N had to pause. They were both named Jim? Perhaps one was actually named James and the other Jimmy or something of the sort? Surely they wouldn’t both be named Jim… That would be absolutely and annoyingly ridiculous of their parents.

“No way, Jim! It just went kaboomy!” Jim – who, Y/N was going to call Jimmy for their own sake – exclaimed, coming over to poke at the broken glass with their foot.

“Stuff just don’t go kaboomy, Jim,” the Jim with the camera – who she was going to call James – pointed out in agitation, coming up to seemingly take a picture of the mess.

“Well I know that, Jim, I ain’t dumb ya know?” Jimmy huffed at him, shoving him.

“Don’t be pushing, Jim! Mom said not to push me all the time, remember?” James whined, pushing Jimmy back before the two were on to bickering back and forth and Y/N could feel a headache forming.

Having enough, Y/N shook the grandfather clock, making it go off. The twins yelped and jumped in unison, backing away from the clock. The loud banging of the old grandfather clock had her head rattling, Y/N normally so use to the dinging that they hadn’t taken in how loud it could be.

The twins shared a look as they calmed down and muttered back and forth to one another before Jimmy was grabbing what appeared to be a backpack. Y/N watched curiously as he carried it to the family room. Following, Y/N watched from the mirror over the fireplace. The view wasn’t as clear as the foyer, but they could see better out of a mirror than a reflective glass surface on a clock.

“Think there’s a spooky in the house, Jim?” James asked his brother, whispering loudly as he looked around, pointing their camera at everything.

“Oh yeah, Jim… We’re gonna talk to a spooky boo!” Jimmy nodded wildly, pulling out a board…?

It took Y/N a second to process that the Jim twin… Had a Quija board. Y/N had never messed with one, and once considered them for devil worshipers or occult specialist… But they had also never seen themselves in a situation like they were in, so perhaps trying to use one of these boards would help them let the twins know they were here. They weren’t the brightest help Y/N could ask for, but it was their only choice for now.

“Where’d you get that, Jim?” James asked, sounding creeped out.

“From Boss Man’s stuff,” Jimmy answered, setting up the board up and placing the small black planchette in the center.

“You can’t just go through his stuff, Jim! He’s gonna be very very, very, very mad if he knows that!” James exclaimed, looking genuinely frightened now.

“He don’t mess with it no more, Jim, it’s fine!” Jimmy waved off as Y/N felt curious. Their boss must not be a very nice man?

“Okay, Jim, make sure you’re recording it all,” Jimmy ordered, looking into the camera and speaking into the microphone

“Jim and I discovered a spooky boo in our exploration to discover the secrets of Markiplier Manor. I’m gonna attempt to make contact with the spooky boo, Jim, using this here Ooo-jee board,” Jimmy spoke quickly before sitting the microphone down on the small table he’d set up on, placing his fingers on the planchette.

“Hello? Spooky boo? This is Jim and Jim… Can you hear us?” Jimmy asked, staring at the board and waiting.

Y/N had never tried to interact with objects outside of the manor void. But… If they could break the glass outside this world and in the real world… Placing their hand on the mirror, Y/N focused as much of themselves as they could on the board and the planchette under Jimmy’s fingers.

“Lookit that, Jim, it’s moving!” James exclaimed and Y/N silently cheered as they felt the piece move. Like it was a part of their hand, making the piece inch side to side, testing.

“Hoh! So! I seem to have made contact with the spooky boo, Jim,” Jimmy exclaimed happily, looking delighted and also shaking as Y/N pulled the piece across the board so hard it came from Jimmy’s light touch as Y/N began to spell.

“H-E-L-P-M-E,” James and Jimmy read aloud together before they looked at one another.

“Help me, Jim! They said help me!” James was practically bouncing, barely keeping the camera steadyily pointed at the board.

“I can spell, Jim, I know!” Jimmy exclaimed.

“Ask it’s name, Jim,” James said. But the brother wasn’t able to.

Y/N spelled out their name on the board.

“Y/N Jim, they’re Y/N!” Jimmy whispered giddily, both brothers seeming scared and delighted by Y/N and their actions.

“You think Boss Man is going to let us air this?” James asked and Jimmy nodded.

“He’s gonna be soooo impressed, Jim! We can finally beat big brother Bim at something,” Jimmy laughed as Y/N continued to spell out Help Me and Mirror to the brothers.

“M-I-R-R-O-R… Mirror?” James read before swinging their camera to the mirror above the fireplace and yelping, waving an arm in frame at Jimmy.

“Jim! Jim, look! It’s a face, Jim! It’s the Spooky boo!” He was yelling now, smacking at Jimmy, who turned and yelled as he saw Y/N yelling at them from behind the mirror. Y/N banged their fist on the mirror, desperately trying to reach out to the brothers.

“Please! Please, you two… please,” Y/N begged, tearing up as the brothers now looked scared. She watched as they both started stumbling out of the family room.

“No, no, no! Wait!” Y/N gasped, trying to follow the twins as she heard them screaming and running through the house until she was at the foyer mirror and watching them run out, yelling about spooky boo and demons?

Y/N felt helplessness and distraught weigh at them as they let out a frustrated and hopeless scream, the void shaking around them as they reeled back and punched the mirror as hard as they could, cracking it more… But not moving it or completely breaking it.

Gasping out a whimper, Y/N fell to their hands and knees and began to sob uncontrollably. Their one chance for help, and they had scared them off… Y/N was never getting out of this world. Never….

“Goddamn you, Mark,” Y/N whispered, falling into a ball and crying to hard they were now dry heaving in pain.

If Y/N could ever really get out of here, they swore they would hunt down Mark and unleash moments upon moments of pain for doing this to all of them… They hadn’t felt vindictive or wildly angry at Mark up until now. Having hope snatched from them… It was a real blow. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not the best at writing Dark or Wilford but I’m trying!

A surge of anger found its way through Dark, hitting him out of nowhere. Anger and… Hopelessness? Dark paused as he was finishing up writing out the schedule for everyone’s upcoming appearance on the channel. Normally, he would leave that to Google. But the android was currently busy on other projects for Dark, so it became his job. He normally finalized the outline, so it wasn’t much extra work to make the whole thing.

His hand went to his chest, over his heart…. Celine… Dark had been able to pull in Celine’s by having her sleep. Yet, even as she slumbered, Dark could feel her anger pulsing with Damien’s… The siblings were in distress. He was neither of the two and yet was both of them. For them to be this much on the same page was… Disturbing. The siblings had been at head with each other since the party and the deaths… Both seemed troubled and upset, now. So much so that Dark could feel it trembling inside him as the flash of emotions banged in his chest like someone pounding a drum…

Dark looked at his hands and noted that he wasn’t flickering out as much. For the first time, he was almost a solid form of purple and gray and he felt completely at ease, even with the emotions howling for his attention.

“What has gotten into you two, hmm?” Dark pondered aloud, sitting his pen down and standing to take a break. He’d been at his work all morning and it was now past lunch. Dr. Iplier surprisingly hadn’t come barging in to force him to eat… Nor had William tried to bother him, and that was alarming slightly.

Looking himself in the mirror in his office, Dark adjusted his suit and his disheveled hair, pausing to take in the fact that… He was crying? Or rather, the body he occupied was crying. His chest ached and he placed his hand once again over his heart as he brushed the wayward tear aside… These were Damien and Celine’s emotions, not his own… Yet they were so strong that it was affecting him physically.

Dark – lost in the sensations he was experience – jerked his head to the door as it opened, Bim standing in the door and looking as agitated as Dark was about being barged in on.

“I’m sorry for not knocking, sir. I was asked by Google to come ask you to come to his office… My idiot little brothers got themselves into something, apparently,” Bim sighed, running his hand through his hair in a sign of stress.

“Even still, let’s not go barging in unannounced again, shall we Bim?” Dark replied, approaching the game show host with a frown and a glint that left no room for disagreement.

The ego nodded, muttering something about the twins as he excused himself and went towards Google’s office. Dark shut the door to his office before making his way to the android’s space. He could simply teleport there, but stretching his legs after sitting for so long like he had.

Dark would never admit it, but he was always impressed by Google’s office. For one, it was covered in the latest and best technology. Anything they could need for their work, the android had somehow gotten his hands on. Google had monitors on every wall, each showing a video or the analytics of previous videos along with the rates of every Ego, including himself.

“I was monitoring the Jims, as is part of my objective for our project, when I was given the footage from the Jim Twins. What they have recorded is… Puzzling to me,” the android admitted, frowning.

This surprised Dark. Google wasn’t the type to admit when he was lost or confused. He normally was fairly on top of things, using the world wide web to his advantage to explain any phenomenon he would encounter while working with many egos that could defy the laws of physics. Such as William or Himself or Host.

“And what footage is that, Google?” Dark asked the android, cracking his neck and face a mask of indifference against the curiosity he was feeling. It was truly rare for Google to be like this and whatever was causing him to react in a way that sent him to reach out to Dark, must be something… Unique.

Google motioned to a monitor within Dark’s line of vision, pulling up footage and having him assaulted with the Jim’s and their insistent prattling. He watched the footage and couldn’t help but wonder just why the twins were so well received by fans… The viewers and the internet was still such a strange thing to Dark, even after all these years of watching it with Google.

It took him far longer than he would admit to realize just  _ where  _ the brothers were bumbling about… A wave of nostalgia hit him, the old Manor once feeling like home and a comfort. Memories from Damien and Celine. Memories from the entity that was the house… Memories from the host body they all inhabited. They were flooding him as the camera panned around the house and the Jim’s rambled on.

“Why are those idiots there?!” Dark exclaimed angrily, body twitching out, hands clinched to fist.

“They have been found to be going through your old property,” Google answered, showing an image of Jim 1 – as Dark labeled him, probably being one of the few egos that could tell the Jim’s apart besides Bim – digging around him Damien and Celine’s old belongings he had stuffed away in storage, making his teeth grind. The brothers were in big trouble!

_ “Hello? Spooky boo? This is Jim and Jim… Can you hear us?” Jim 1 asked, staring at the board and waiting. _

Nothing happened at first… Until Dark watched as the planchette began to move under the Jim’s fingers. He watched it be yanked from his fingers and move across the screen.

“H-E-L-P-M-E,” the Jim’s read aloud with the moving piece, Dark’s eye widening as he felt himself leaning towards the screen.

_ “Help me, Jim! They said help me!” _

_ “I can spell, Jim, I know!” _

_ “Ask it’s name, Jim!” _

Dark’s entire being began to ring so loud it was messing with his hearing, as a familiar name was spelled across the board clear as can be.

“Y/N Jim, they’re Y/N!” he barely heard one of the Jim’s say, his mind beginning to spiral down a hole of memories he tried not to think about, things he didn’t want to doddle on!

“Y/N…” Dark whispered, his voice not his own… But Damien’s, an ache hitting him as the camera spun to the Mirror and a familiar face – Y/N’s face – appearing behind the mirror, banging away wildly at the surface and seeming to be screaming at the Jim’s before the camera swiveled and the brothers were departing the manor…

“I was analyzing the data from the footage and discovered it has a history to it, Sir-“ Google began, but Dark cut him off.

“I know the place, Google… I do not need to know its history,” he spoke coldly, seething as he about faced and stormed from the android’s office, almost knocking into Illinois on his way out. The newest Ego – walking with Yancy – barely missed being run over, letting out a polite apology as Yancy threw up his hands at Dark, but didn’t dare try to attack him like he would one of his inmate friends.

Dark paid the two newcomers no mind. He had two brothers to go hunting for… Two brothers who were in deep trouble… And had much to explain for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and follows and comments yall!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope what I wrote makes sense... Please feel free to speak up if it doesn’t lol! I’m stuck at home and waiting you-know-what results so I’m not all here.. In pain and dealing with nausea. But I wanted to finish this chapter today.

Y/N had passed out on the floor, curled into a ball and heaving up an empty stomach from crying so hard they had needed to vomit up their emotions. For the first time ever, Y/N had to face their isolation and betrayal. Had to face their death and the actions of all around them… For the first time, Y/N couldn’t brush off what they had gone through.

Why had Mark done this? Why had he dragged Y/N into this? What had prompted all this? Why did Y/N have to be the one cast out when it was _their_ body! What had they done to deserve being trapped in this Hell?

_“Finally asking the real questions, I see.”_

Y/N sat up quickly, hair sticking to their tear coated cheek, eyes wide as they looked around… Someone had spoken. Someone or something had spoken… The voice sounded familiar, but also… Not? Sitting up and wiping at their face, Y/N got to their feet and moved about the void of the manor.

“Hello? Who’s there? I heard you! I know I did…” Y/N trailed off, quieting as they listened, hugging themselves tightly. They felt, for the first time, that they were being watched. The feeling sent a chill up their spine, making them shudder and rub their arms, which were prickling with goosebumps.

 _“Hello, Y/N,”_ a voice spoke up behind them and Y/N gasped, turning around sharply to look behind them into the darker parts of the manor. The parts that weren’t fully formed. Parts Y/N didn’t dare to pass through too often, afraid of not finding their way back to the lights of the outer world.

Standing in the darker section of the other manor’s family room, about six feet from them, was a figure. Y/N couldn’t make them out at first. But once they adjusted to the light, they shuffled back in shock.

“M-Mark?” Y/N whispered, taking in the man – the monster? – before them.

It looked like Mark… They wore the obnoxious red robe Mark had been wearing while sprawled out dead on the ground. And the obnoxious slippers… And the face was similar… But their eyes were inky black and they had a wild, broken smile on their face and Y/N could make out a what looked like dark patches of something on the robe and a red trail of blood from their lips?

 _“Yes and no,”_ the figure answered, sounding like Mark but… Warped. Deeper and almost growling. Like listening to a wolf or bear try to talk like a human.

Y/N stepped back more as Mark/Not Mark took a few steps towards them. They walked with a limp and their body moved strangely… As if it was a ragdoll being manipulated by a child’s hands. Loose and stiff all at once.

“What do you mean yes and no?” Y/N asked, touching one of the reflective surfaces with their back as they backed up as far as they could go.

 _“Exactly as it sounds. You ask if I am Mark… I am. But I am not as well… I am the manifestation of Mark’s rage, his sorrow, his madness! I am the pieces of Mark that were left behind when he decided to abandon himself for a newer, cleaner body,”_ they spoke in their growling tone and Y/N could only stare at them.

 _“So, You’re piece of Mark… That has become part of this world?”_ Y/N asked, trying to make sure they understood what this Mark/Not Mark was saying.

 _“Yes, Y/N. For every time Mark killed himself and for every bit of his madness he fell into, a piece of him was left here… The entity that occupied this space, unknowingly to Mark, began to feed off his anger, his rage, and his hunger for revenge against those that left him… And when that being left, I was cast aside as you were… I took this shell. I do not need a living body to survive. This shell was here and I refuse to touch that_ other _one,”_ the creature that was wearing Mark’s skin all but growled in disgust as Y/N frowned.

“Other one?” Y/N asked, not understanding.

The Mark skin wearing being nodded with a sneer that was a perfect resemblance to Mark’s sneer as it motioned Y/N to follow it into the darkness of the Upside-Down manor. Something Y/N automatically was not okay with. They did not know this creature, and it even said it was an essence of Mark’s madness and rage… Nothing about that felt safe.

But Y/N let their curiosity and need for something to do lead them, taking their first step into the darkness of the Upside-Down Manor. Every which way that Y/N looked, they could see nothing. When they looked behind them, they could just barely make out the outline of the light from where they’d come from…

“Have you been here this whole time with me?” Y/N called out, not even knowing if the Not-Mark would answer.

 _“Yes. Since they day you were left here, I have been nearby,”_ they answered and Y/N felt irritated.

“Why did you never speak up then? Why leave me alone?” Y/N asked, irritable as they walked straight on, or at least what they thought was straight as Not-Mark was barely visible now to them.

 _“You were not asking the right questions. You needed to question your circumstance. Once I could feel you do so, I would let myself known,”_ the being explained as Y/N stepped into a small halo of light, finding themselves in a familiar but almost forgotten room… This was the room that Y/N had last seen Celine in, shrouded in an eerie light as she had tossed them from the room like a bag of potatoes…

“I forgot this place…” Y/N spoke aloud, looking around what they could of the room until-

“Celine?!” Y/N exclaimed as, lying prone on the ground and wearing the outfit Y/N had last seen her in… Was Celine.

Y/N rushed over to Celine and crouched by her, touching her face and jerking their hand back. She was ice cold and her skin was hardened… As if she was frozen?

 _“What you see is not_ that _woman. Not anymore,”_ Not-Mark spoke up, voice laced with disgust.

“What happened to her? What is this?” Y/N asked, looking over their shoulder at Not-Mark, glaring as they cradled Celine gently.

 _“The entity that resides here took over that woman and took her soul as their own before killing her brother so that Mark could have a body and it could trick you and Damien to get your body,”_ Not-Mark explained with a sour expression as it eyed Celine cradled in Y/N’s arms.

“It just left Celine’s body here? Why didn’t it stay in hers?” Y/N asked, not quit understanding.

 _“That woman was too strong to keep alive… She would not give up her body so easily, and when her brother was killed, she became enraged and tried to kill herself and the entity… So the entity dragged her here and left her body, but kept her soul as a base to trick you and Damien so it could get your body,”_ Not-Mark explained and Y/N felt themselves getting a headache.

“The Celine I talked to when I died… That wasn’t just Celine then?” Y/N asked and Not-Mark smirked.

 _“Correct… You are as smart as Damien would say to Mark,”_ the being chuckled. _“I see why he was jealous of you. Intelligent, attractive, and budding career… Yes, I see why Mark was slightly jealous of you.”_

“Jealous? I was nothing to get worked over,” Y/N grumbled, brushing Celine’s hair from her face before laying her back down.

“So you would rather take over a broken form than this one? Why?” Y/N asked, not understanding. If it was their choice, Y/N would go for the nicer model.

 _“This body is familiar, broken or not… I was created from pieces of Mark afterall. That woman’s body fills me with anger and pain,”_ the being explained and Y/N nodded, understanding.

It made sense. Celine leaving Mark had driven the man off the edge… Leaving him for someone who was supposed to be his best friend, well that would drive anyone to feel rage… The more Y/N pieced together what had been going on behind the scenes of the party… The more they understood, a little, why it all happened… In a way, this whole thing could be blamed on multiple things. It could be placed on Celine for her decision to run away with her husband’s best friend… Could be blamed on William for running off with his friend’s wife… Could even be blamed on Damien for not noticing his friends fall into madness…

But it also didn’t feel right to place the blame soully on one person… Even Mark had been played by the demons of the upside down. The entity that Not-Mark spoke of… It mustve twisted things. This Upside-Down world was like a Hell that drove madness into a grieving and lonely jerk of a man… Most of Y/N’s anger fell on Mark, though. Even knowing it wasn’t entirely his idea to get Y/N trapped here, there was still a plan for murder…

 _“Now you are thinking things through,”_ Not-Mark chuckled darkly, making Y/N shudder.

“You keep saying that… What am I thinking through?” Y/N asked and Not-Mark’s distorted mouth tweaked into a grim and disgusting grin.

 _“Just_ who _to blame for your fall,”_ it answered and Y/N flinched as it hit the nail on the head…

 _“Don’t be too mad at Mark, Y/N. This place and the one that occupied it, set all this in motion, manipulated the cards in their favor… You were a casualty. Mark hadn’t planned on you. Neither had the rest of us here in the Upside-Down… You were a trick of the hand and everything fell apart. A wildcard, if you may,”_ Not-Mark chuckled.

“Manipulated or not… Mark still wanted to hurt William, right?” Y/N mumbled and Not-Mark tilted their broken head to the side.

 _“Yes and no… Deep grief is a devil’s playground, you know? The_ real _Mark wouldn’t try to kill his friend... But with a little molding... Anything is possible_ ” it laughed as Y/N sighed and looked at Celine’s body.

“Why did you bring me to her?” Y/N asked and Not-Mark smirked.

 _“I’m getting you out of here, Y/N… Or shall I say, Celine?”_ it chuckled and Y/N felt their stomach drop.

“You want me to take Celine’s body? I can’t…” Y/N trailed off, shaking their head at Not-Mark.

 _“That body is still connected to the living world. It was left in this plane as a living backup shell… You step into this body, then you can return to the mortal existence you crave so much,”_ Not-Mark coaxed, making Y/N look once again at Celine’s body.

“Why are you helping me? You don’t know me… Mark didn’t really know me… Why help me?” Y/N asked and Not-Mark’s face morphed to a look of sympathy.

 _“Perhaps some of Mark’s kind humanity was swallowed up in me… I can’t help but feel this is not where you belong. This was the work of a broken and rage filled man between people he grew up with… You were an innocent bystander,”_ Not-Mark explained… And for a second, Y/N was reminded of Damien… The voice was deeper and Not-Mark didn’t look like Damien… But the infliction and the words spoken to Y/N in a way Damien used to…

Taking a deep breath, Y/N looked at Celine’s body and grimaced.

“So… How do I do this?” Y/N asked and Not-Mark grinned widely and inhumanly

_“Allow me to explain.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well? Whatcha think?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A soldier comes home and a deity gets shook... Yeah, I’ll go gone now lol

Dark didn’t often try to make an example of people if he could help it, but the Jim’s had crossed a line. He had put the fear of God in them before putting them on lockdown with Yancy. The newest Ego had been open to help put the twins on the right path before they “made their mama cry”… Whatever that meant.

Dark quickly tracked Host down afterwards, asking the other oldest Ego to keep an eye on things. The Host was one of the strongest of the Egos besides himself and William. It made sense to have him keep things on lock. And The Host was more than willing for the job, as he would narrate before Dark went off to find William.

Making it to the studio, Dark came face to face with Kathyrn, the Producer and one of the only beings who had control over William. Dark wasn’t sure if the woman was even human, but she was able to handle William like he was child’s play. It was… Almost intimidating, really. William wasn’t an easy force to handle, but he’d never shot at the woman or even tried to murder her any time she reigned him down. She had even been able to easily confiscate his weapons without a struggle, something even Dark hated to admit that he struggled with.

“He’s in time out in make up. He shot another light out and almost lost us another intern,” Kathyrn huffed out before Dark could ask where his old friend was, tilting his head at the Producer, who never seemed to be intimidated or uncomfortable around him.

“Thank you, Kathryn… Your services here are greatly appreciated,” Dark told her, making her pause and give him a look before muttering a thank you and heading for her office.

“I have his gun! He can have it back later!” Kathryn called out as she walked away, making Dark actually chuckle. That woman wasn’t human, he didn’t care what anyone said.

Heading to make up, Dark could hear William throwing a fit. Opening the door, Dark saw Peebstache simply smiling as she listened to William, her little fake pink mustache in place and looking enamored by William’s pitty-me rant.

“Oh you don’t need a shooty, Willy,” she said. “A good stabby stab is just as wonderful!”

Peebstache had showed up a few years back. Dark had yet to utilize her potential. Many of the viewers seemed to enjoy her and often ranted about needing her on the channel… But Peebstache, while unhinged almost as much as Williams now was, did not like the spotlight. And Dark would not force a woman to do anything they were uncomfortable with,

“Excuse me, Peebstache. I need to speak with my friend,” Dark spoke up, cutting off Williams' response to her suggestion.

“Oh, no problem Darkiplier sir,” she saluted him before smiling at William and bouncing out of the room, humming some song that was unfamiliar to him as she left in a literal blink of the eye, able to pop about just as William could.

“She’s a good kid, aint she Darky?” William spoke up, making Dark give his friend an exasperated look. He loathed being called “Darky”.

“William… I have an errand I need to run. Would you like to accompany me?” Dark spoke instead, making William perk up. He loved every chance he could get to leave the Ego Estate. Due to his murdering nature, Kathyrn had ordered them to make it mandatory for William to stay at the estate or at the studio or to be accompanied by someone since his murdering rampages were always a hassle to handle with the network and it meant not dealing with the police breathing down her neck over her main interviewer.

Dark had agreed easily, knowing it was best to keep William tucked in the estate so he or Host or Google could interfere if he became unhinged. They were all strong enough to handle William when he started getting physical. And Google couldn’t be killed, so shooting or stabbing the android wouldn’t be a permanent damage.

“Where are we going, old friend?” William asked as Dark refrained William from transporting them. He was not a fan of his friend’s method of travel, as it left him feeling rather loopy himself. Off balanced… And covered in pink confetti sometimes.

“Some place we haven’t been in a very long time…. We have a friend to meet,” Dark answered softly before pulling them through the veil. William made a face as he was swallowed into the darkness. He wasn’t a fan of Dark’s travel as it was “too damn dark in the veil” as he’d said more than once.

The manor loomed over them soon enough. The old estate had been built in the 1800s and had been abandoned in the 1930s after Mark’s party had given the place an aura of being cursed… The people weren’t far off. And the building looked the part now. For many of its windows were broken, it’s once-grand stonework crumbling with time, and some of the wood in sight looked to be termite infested and rotting.

“I know this place…” William muttered beside him, brow furrowed as he stared at the old estate with deep concentration.

“Why have we come here, old chap?” William asked sharply, looking pale and more lucid to the world than Dark had seen in years… Bringing William to the estate had been out a need for someone nearby to make sure the estate didn’t try anything with him. While the creature that had resided in it was bound to Celine, the Upside-Down could be a cruel place that didn’t like to give up its residence so easily… If it tried to swallow them all up, William – or Wilford now – would be the only one who could stand against it.

“An old friend, Wilford… An old friend was left behind,” Dark answered carefully as William turned to look at him, blinking slowly.

“Old friend?” he asked curiously and Dark nodded, looking at the house.

“Well let’s not keep them waiting! That’s just bad manners, you know?” William huffed, making for the door with quick, easy strides.

Dark warily watched his friend retreat, a bit surprised by how well he was taking being back at this old place… Gathering himself, Dark followed his friend into the house, the two of them standing in the foyer, the old place still looking the same… Simply aged in the ninety something years it had been since they had last stepped foot in the old estate.

“Hmm… A little more drab than I remember,” William commented as he stepped deeper into the house while Dark stared down at an old blood stain in the foyer, head tilting to look at the old mirror in the foyer… The one his younger self had accidentally trapped Y/N in.

Touching the mirror's cracked surface, Dark tried to see if he could spot Y/N… Before noting he couldn’t even see his own reflection in the old mirror.

“HELLO? ARE YOU HERE, OLD FRIEND?” William called out, moving about the estate with ease and familiarity. He put his hands on his hips as he stood in the family room, noting a Quija board on the center table… A board he recognized.

“This is… Celine’s…” he slurred out, shaking as he picked it up and touched its surface. He remembered Celine having this in her possessions when she left with him… Was she here? Was Celine who Dark was speaking of?

A hopeful and giddy warmth spread through him as he looked around wildly. He began to jog about the house, searching but not calling out. Maybe he could catch her off guard and she couldn’t hide and continue this silly game!

“Wil!” Dark called out, drawing William to turn around and look at his friend. Dark stared at William, seeing the wild look in his eyes and feeling his stomach churn as he slowly approached his friend.

“Wilford…?” he spoke slowly, reaching out to touch his friend’s shoulders.

“It’s Celine! She’s here, isn’t she? That’s who you are trying to surprise me with, right? I know this is hers! She must be practicing that occult stuff of hers, right?” William spoke quickly, a crazed lilt to his voice as he was grinning like a mad man at Dark.

“No, Wilford… We’re here for Y/N,” Dark explained slowly, feeling his body thrumming as deeper into the house he and William ventured into the house.

“Y/N… Right, right… Celine and Y/N must be here together then!” William laughed, clapping his hands. “It’s about time! This game has been going on forever!”

Dark wasn’t sure how to respond, voices invading his mind as he stood in the family room with his hands on William’s broad shoulders, trying to steady the sudden disproportion he was starting to feel since he stepped past the foyer.

_ DONG! DONG! DONG! _

Both men froze, the grandfather clock striking noon before the house began to shake, causing both men to stumble in place, William clutching Dark to keep him upright as the old colonel steadied himself easily enough as the estate shook wildly, groaning as every reflective surface in eyesight began to glow an eerie white light.

“I don’t think the house is happy to see us, old friend!” William bellowed over the dinging grandfather clock and the rumble and groans of the estate before it came to a sudden halt. Everything was silent, not a sound. Not even birds chirping outside anymore.

In the silence, William released Dark… Before the soft padding of feet could be heard on the stairs in the foyer.

Stepping quickly, both men made it to the foyer. As they rounded from the hallway, Dark could see a pair of legs on the stairs. He came to a quick stop, staring up the stairway with a look of surprise.

“Hello there! You’re not who we’re looking for,” William spoke up, breaking the silence and ringing in his ear that sounded like frustrated screaming…

The figure before them looked like Y/N… But their eyes were different along with their hair… Actually, their face looked really different too if he really focused…

“Y/N…?” Dark spoke up softly, his voice sounding purely like Damiens as raw emotions battled to come out at the sight of their friend on the stairs.

The stranger – it had to be Y/N – tilted their head at them both, holding onto the rail tightly as they took a few steps down towards them. Squinting at them and looking skeptical, they spoke softly… And it was Y/N. Dark would know that voice!

“Do I know you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so grateful for all the comments 😭 bless you sweet readers. I continue because of you!


	5. Chapter 5

The explanation Not-Mark gave Y/N was confusing. It wasn’t a simple matter of just dropping yourself into the body like they would’ve thought. They had to create the body to their own self. It could keep the hosts initial image or change it… And while Celine was beautiful, Y/N wanted to be them as much as possible.

So they’d had to work on adapting the appearance… Which was harder than they thought. It took longer than they wanted to admit, feeling a little vain about being so specific about how they looked. But Not-Mark had explained that once they left the Upside-Down they wouldn’t be able to manipulate their appearance as easily.

_ “Satisfied?” _ Not-Mark asked, seeming to not be as perturbed by the body now that it didn’t look like Celine anymore, save for a few features from the woman that Y/N had liked enough to keep.

“I think so… Now I just have to put myself in there?” Y/N asked, looking at Not-Mark.

_ “That’s right. Simply let yourself merge with the body and you’ll start to be created and put back into the mortal plane,” _ Not-Mark confirmed, Y/N nodding to show they understood.

“What happens when I leave?” Y/N asked curiously, Not-Mark shrugging.

_ “You leave and the Upside-Down stays here,”  _ they explained and Y/N couldn’t help but frown.

“What happens to you?” they asked and Not-Mark looked surprised by their question.

_ “I stay in the Upside-Down,”  _ he answered and Y/N’s frown deepened.

“Well… Wait… That’s not right,” Y/N mumbled, shaking their head and crossing their arms.

_ “Oh it’s perfectly alright. This body is broken and if I step out of the Upside-Down with it,. I’ll be trapped in death. No, no, it’s best I stay here like a good little monster,”  _ Not-Mark waved off Y/N’s concern.

“You’re not a monster… You look like one, but… Looks aren’t everything you know?” Y/N huffed, coming to stand before Not-Mark.

_ “I was left behind for a reason, Y/N. I am useless emotions and feelings that were better off cast aside to feed this world. I’m a nobody, a nothing. I deserve to stay right here,” _ Not-Mark hummed, smiling at them, seeing that they were upset by this.

“You didn’t ask to be made this way… But you were made and you’re sentient. You can speak and think and you exist… No one deserves to be alone,” Y/N whispered, hesitating only a second before they took Not-Mark’s cold hand.

Not-Mark looked down at their hands clasped together and looked… puzzled. It broke Y/N’s heart to see such a look of uncertainty at the sign of affection Y/N was offering them... A simple hand touch seemed to be conflicting with the being that was and was not Mark.

“Come with me! We can share the body, can’t we? Like the spirits inside mine did,” Y/N exclaimed, the idea punching at them suddenly and brilliantly.

_ “Are you insane? You don’t want me tagging along with you, I’m nothing but broken words and feelings and pieces from a man that got you murdered, Y./N!” _ Not-Mark seemed to sputter in their growling tone, sounding rather adorable.

“I haven’t been in the mortal world for lord knows how long… I don’t wanna return alone… I’m actually kind of scared… Please… Please just come with me. Don’t stay here… No one deserves to be alone,” Y/N whispered to Not-Mark, squeezing his hand and giving him their best pleading look and a light tug on their arm.

_ “Your memories will be messed up if I mix with you… We’ll share a history then… You’ll feel and see everything that Mark did, even know what he was thinking as you and he died… You really want to share a body with that kind of mental state?”  _ Not-Mark asked, looking at Y/N with a baffled expression.

“My past… Isn’t something worth really remembering… And it’ll do me good to probably know a little of how Mark thinks for when I - when you and I - face off against him, right?” Y/N mused, smiling and certain this was the right thing to do.

Not-Mark sighed and shook his head at them, chuckling as they muttered about “Damnable fools” and “optimistic nuts”. Y/N worried their lower lip as Not-Mark seemed to think, still holding their hand.

_ “I don’t even have a name… What on earth would I even call myself out there?”  _ he asked and Y/N couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well.. I've been calling you Not-Mark… But that seems silly for a real name…” Y/N trailed off, releasing Not-Mark’s hand and crossing their arms in thought.

“Mark called himself Markiplier… How does Negaplier sound? Since it’s a pun and word play for what he called himself? And you and him consider yourself to be his negative aspects of himself… Negaplier?” you tried, watching Not-Mark maul the name over silently and saying it under his breath a few times.

_ “Negaplier… Yes… It’s simple and to the point, self explanatory… I like it, very good Y/N,” _ he laughed in his raspy deep roar of a voice, making Y/N smile even though the laugh and smile on his face should’ve terrified them with how dark it sounded.

“So, Negaplier… Why don’t we get out of here, yeah?” Y/N hummed, looking at the body. “You can change something before we go if you want, since we’re sharing.”

Negaplier - Nega as Y/N would call them for short - nodded and glossed the body over before changing the hair and body tone and skin slightly, smirking as Y/N clapped their hands, agreeing with the changes.

“This is only temporary, understood?” Nega asked as Y/N took Nega’s hand. Y/N nodded before they allowed themself to focus on the body and let it merge to their being. The sensation was very strange as one minute Y/N felt weightless and stretched to suddenly feeling heavy and locked in place.

A sharp gasp broke from their lips as their lungs adjusted easily, if not painfully, to what it was like to breath again. Gulping for air, Y/N sat up and held their chest, coughing and feeling… Strange.

A wave of sensations washed over them. Anger… Jealousy… Insuperiority… Betrayal… They were strong and almost painful as they twisted inside Y/N, making their head hurt and their body ache… But that could also be from coming back alive again.

Standing up slowly, Y/N held their head in their hand and blinked slowly, turning to look in a mirror and stumble up to it, fingers touching the smooth surface and surprised to see their own reflection again… Not the same, but it was their own!

“I’m really back….” Y/N whispered softly, touching their face and laughing, tears forming in their eyes as they hugged themselves… And Nega.

_ “So you didn’t forget about me, huh?”  _ Nega’s growling voice echoed inside, their appearance reflecting in Y/N’s eyes as they smiled, looking completely different without Mark’s broken body as their protective shell… Now they looked like Y/N, save for only black eyes and pointed teeth… And Mark’s hair style?

“You look different,” Y/N spoke softly to him, curiously tilting their head. 

_ “I thought it best I try to match you for form with a few of my own touches to reflect. Wouldn’t do me good to resemble that bastard now would it?”  _ Nega asked, grinning at Y/N and making them smile. 

That was true… If they could even track down Mark. He’d disappeared pretty quickly with Damien’s body, so lord above could guess where he was now…

_ “We’ll find him. I may have been cast aside, but I’m still able to feel when he’s near or not,” _ Nega muttered, causing Y/N to sigh with some relief. 

“I'm nervous… I haven’t been outside in so long, I-“ Y/N almost screamed as loud voices reached their ears along with the loud singing of the grandfather clock downstairs. 

“What on earth…? Is it those Jim brothers again?” Y/N wondered aloud, hearing Nega groan.

_ “Best not be. I was two seconds away from killing those idiots. But I saw you were trying to get them to help you out,”  _ he growled, making Y/N’s chest rumble from how deep it sounded in them.

Making their way from the room Celine had perished in, Y/N went to the balcony and tried not to freak out. The reminder of their fall and death was still very fresh and being alive again…

Grasping the stairs' handrails, Y/N slowly carried themselves down the stairs to the halfway point, freezing as she heard someone or something approaching them. 

“Hello there! You’re not who we’re looking for,” a painfully familiar-like voice spoke up, breaking the silence of the room and making Y/N feel a wave of fear associated with this man.

“Y/N…?” The second figure spoke up softly, Y/N nearly falling back as they definitely knew this voice, but… The face and the appearance was…

“Do I know you?” Y/N asked softly, peering at the two men who were each striking different emotions in them. Nega was silent, but Y/N could feel an anger rolling off them. 

“Well, friend, my name is Wilford Warfstache and this is my dear friend Darkiplier! We’re looking for our friend Y/N… Do you know where they are?” The man spoke in a slurred like accent that Y/N had never heard of… But the man also looked familiar somehow…

_ “You gotta be fucking kidding me,” _ Nega muttered as Y/N realized what their new friend was cursing about.

“Colonel Barnum…?” Y/N whispered, coming down the stairs towards the pink suspender wearing man… That clearly had to be The Colonel… But different.

“Name doesn't ring a bell, you know the name, Dark?” The Colonel asked the man beside him… Who looked like a disfigured and off Damien and had even sounded like him just a bit ago… What was going on? Who were these men and why did they look like her friend and his childhood friend that shot them dead?!

_ “This ain’t right… The Hell did Old Damien do to himself?”  _ Nega muttered to Y/N, who could only flinch as the Damien lookalike stepped forward and straightened up, cracking their neck in a way that made Y/N’s stomach churn in disgust… It sounded broken…

“Get away from me!” Y/N exclaimed, causing both men to pause and look startled.

“Y/N, listen… It’s me. It’s Damien,” the distorted doppelganger of her friend.

“Prove it,” Y/N demanded, doing their best to keep space. “Answer this question only Damien could answer… What happened at the fraternity party our senior year that made us not speak to one another for weeks?”

“You’re going to make me say it out loud?” Dark sighed in exasperation, knowing exactly what Y/N was asking them.

Y/N nodded as Nega seemed just as curious about the answer as well. The senior years last fraternity party had seen both Y/N and Damien completely smashed to the point of it being almost suicidal. They had wanted to get out some stress before finals since they would be buckling down for weeks to study for the big bar exam. But even that drunk, Y/N recalled certain parts of the night that had made a weird shift in their relationship with the future Mayor.

“We had a disagreement,” Dark answered and Y/N frowned, motioning for him to explain because that was partially right.

“On?” Y/N asked when they didn’t continue.

“On relationships,” Dark finally replied, their form cracking strangely.

“On whose relationship?” Y/N asked and saw this Damien lookalike glare and roll their eyes.

”One our relationship, Y/N,” they growled out and Y/N could see that this person - Damien… It was him! - was really struggling to bring up such an awkward and actually rather difficult topic from their past.

“Damien…?” Y/N whispered, causing the man’s expression to actually soften just a little as he gave a hesitant nod..

Y/N couldn’t help the choked sob of surprise as their identity was confirmed, truly taking in the way their body flickered between red, blue, and hues of gray, white, and black. The suit they wore was similar to the one Damien wore as Mayor… But this one was very modern and a stark white against their gray skin.

“I’m surprised you don’t remember me as this,” Dark spoke, fixing his suit as he looked at the man beside him, who was taking everything in with a sort of childlike fascination.

“I don’t remember a lot from when… When everything first happened,” Y/N admitted. They could recall realizing they were trapped in the mirror and recall William running around and calling for Damien and Celine… Even recall the fall… But the exact memory of being put in the Upside-Down manor was slightly fuzzy.

“What do you remember?” Dark asked, tilting his head.

“I remember that I was pushed out of my body, if that's what you’re wondering,” Y/N said coldly. “I don’t remember the details, but I remember feeling complete one second and then like I was floating in a real out of body experience.”

Dark’s expression went from inquisitive to apologetic and to a state of blankness that was so unsettling to see. Damien had always been a very open book, usually pretty easy for Y/N to read… What had the whole thing at the mansion done to him…?

“That wasn’t entirely my doing… I apologize… I would’ve never intentionally pushed you from your body,” Dark explained and Y/N knew that, somehow… Somehow they knew that it wasn’t Damien who sacrificed them to the Upside-Down… 

“Your sister must’ve really taken a dislike to me,” Y/N sighed, thinking of Celine and how the woman had practically tried to bite into them when they finally got to meet for the first time.

“You remember-” Dark tried, but Y/N cut him off.

“No, I don’t know if it was her… I just feel it… It’s hard to explain-” Y/N tried, stopping as Nega spoke up.

_ “Better let me take over for a bit. Think I can help straighten this all out,”  _ he cut in, Y/N suddenly blacking out.

Nega’s presence was at the forefront… It felt like Y/N was being shoved to the back of their own mind. Like someone else had invaded their headspace and was taking control of the body they called their own. 

As quickly as it came, the blackness ebbed away and Y/N found themselves as no more than an observer—seeing through their eyes but hearing Nega’s voice emitting from the body’s mouth, unable to control any of it. Pulled back in the shadows, like an observer.

Y/N had become a bystander within their new body.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nega to the... Rescue? Eh. Kinda lol

Dark couldn’t explain it, but he could tell that Y/N wasn’t themselves. For one thing, they completely froze mid-sentence and he could see they looked… Confused.

Dark opened his mouth to question them when a jolt of anger hit him… It was similar to before when he had been working. He felt the sudden need to hit Y/N repeatedly until they were just a pile of broken bones on the ground…. He recognized Celine’s rage instantly, and it wasn’t something that came without reason.

_ “Well… Damien… You look like shit,”  _ Y/N spoke and Dark jerked back.

Y/N’s voice was never that deep. In fact it sounded like a beast growling… And yet, it was vaguely familiar. But from where, God knows, but it was itching at his mind. Celine was stirring angrly inside him as she slumbered, affected heavily by the voice just as Damien was as well… This wasn’t Y/N.

“Mark!” William exclaimed angrily and suddenly, causing Dark to jerk hard and his form to distort from the sudden rage that was coming from his old friend, coming out of their state of stupor now.

_ “William, hush… The adults are talking now,”  _ the voice rasped out and Dark could hear it this time. He could hear Mark!

“You bastard, how dare you show your… Well, not-face here!” William exclaimed, pulling their knife out and pointing it wildly.

_ “Now, now, Colonel… You stab me and you hurt poor Y/N too,” _ the distorted version of Mark’s voice warned, sounding exasperated.  _ “And I’d rather not ruin the new body we worked so hard on… Celine wouldn’t look good with a stab wound.” _

At the mention of Celine, a sick twisting happened in Dark’s stomach… Y/N was supposed to be in the Upside-Down. Trapped. Unable to leave without a body anymore or knowledge on how to work into the body… Where had this body come from?

“You took Celine’s body,” Dark whispered, mortified as the voice chuckled and nodded, their eyes – now an inky black – gleamed.

_ “Well, Y/N needed one and this one was left behind so… We put it to better use,”  _ they growled, flexing their hand.

“How dare you slime around in my sister’s body, you sick bastard!” Dark exclaimed, Damien coming to the forefront now. “Y/N is one thing, they were innocent and got dragged into your plan… Get out!” Dark snarled, losing his calm quickly. It was harder to hold onto with Celine taking up arms with Damien.

Mark’s distorted voice began to laugh, loud and obnoxious, shaking their head. They were grinning like the cat that caught the canary and it made Darks hackles raise. It wasn’t Mark’s face, but with that voice… Yes, Dark could picture that bastard perfectly. And he wouldn’t be surprised if Wilford could as well, judging by his friends heavy breathing beside him. He didn’t attack, though. Which was surprising, really.

_ “I have news for you, Damien… I’m not Mark! See, back when your Mark was coming in and out of the Upside-Down, the entity within the realm fed off of Mark, devouring pieces of him that they convinced him to toss aside like garbage,”  _ the Not-Mark? Growled out, voice cold. _ “I am the manifestation of your Mark’s rage, his sorrow, his madness! I am the pieces of Mark that were left behind when he decided to abandon himself for your body, once he had access to it… Even though originally he wanted Williams.” _

Dark reeled at this, staring at the being before them… It shouldn’t surprise him that this kind of thing was possible… The Upside-Down was a world of endless possibilities… It deciding to bring pieces of Mark alive… From what he learned, that was in its plethora of abilities. It had created him, afterall…

“Why are we not stabbing him, Dark?” William spoke up, frustrated… And Dark realized he had a hard grip on his friend’s arm to keep him from jumping at the creature before them.

“Stand down, Wilford… That’s not our Mark,” Dark finally replied, looking at his friend sternly.

“Not our- Oh! Well, goodness, why didn’t they say so? I almost killed you, friend!” William laughed, twirling the blade in his hand with great skills that kept him from knicking his own fingers badly.

_ “Mark did a number on him, huh?”  _ the not-Mark voice mused, sounding… sad? Dark wasn’t too sure of the tone, but they didn’t seem pleased to take note of William’s state of mind.

“Where is Y/N, Mark?” Dark asked, tired of this being commenting on the actions of the very man they came from.

_ “Y/N is fine. They’re on standby. I thought it best I was the one to explain what was going on… This body we have is Celine’s. We want to hopefully find a better one in time and let this shell rest…,”  _ they explained.  _ “And please…. Call me Nega. I’m no longer Mark. He lost me when he lost himself.” _

Nega… A strange name, but he went by Dark so what was he to judge? Dark simply nodded, glancing at William as the man was muttering to himself and seeming to drift off into his own world again… Which was probably for the best, honestly.

“Nega… Why are you sharing a body with Y/N?” Dark asked and Nega sighed.

_ “Blame Y/N… They felt it wasn’t within their righteous heart to let me be left behind,”  _ Nega explained and Dark had to sigh because, yeah… He could see that. Y/N was a righteous and caring individual… It wasn’t any wonder they had gotten along with Abe back at the manor.

“Then you’re the reason they were able to change the body and take it?” he asked and Nega nodded, making Dark feel a little relief… He hadn’t been too certain on how he was going to help Y/N escape the Upside-Down without a body.

“Damien?” Y/N’s voice pulled Dark from his thoughts, startling him.

“You let a piece of that bastard share a body with you? That was reckless, Y/N,” Dark scolded, frowning as Y/N gave a simple shrug.

“Nega isn’t Mark… They’re just what’s left of his past. Of the Mark you used to tell me stories of and would show me his films… I still think he was a pompous peacock of a man,” Y/N explained, smiling as Dark snorted in agreement.

“Nega cleared up a lot of things for me… About Mark, that is… I can feel everything, Damien… Everything he felt and thought back when… When Celine left him…” Y/N trailed off, seeming to be thinking and Damien frowned…. Because it sounded like Y/N was defending Mark.

“Y/N… You were trapped for a long time and there’s a lot you don’t know… But Mark can not be trusted,” Damien spoke slowly, trying not to lash out at the DA… They didn’t know. They had no clue about everything that Mark had done to them…

“Damien, I know what he did… But I also know that he wasn’t all there-“ Y/N began, stopping as the grandfather clock struck and cut them off, making them jump.

“Can we… Continue this somewhere else? I want and need to get out of this mansion… I’m so tired of that clock,” Y/N sighed and Dark could see that they did, indeed look tired… It had been over 80 years since they’d had a human body, afterall.

“Yes! Lets leave this dreadfully drab estate,” William spoke up cheerfully, coming to Y/N and throwing his arm over their shoulder. Dark didn’t miss the nervous look Y/N gave William and he had to remind himself that Y/N had been shot to death by the Colonel…

“Wilford, please, give our friend some space. They’ve had a trying day I’m sure,” Dark sighed at his friend, noting the look of gratitude Y/N sent them as William pouted, but complied.

“Are you hungry, Y/N? I'm absolutely famished!” William exclaimed as he released Y/N from the shoulder hug roughly.

Y/N swayed on their feet before opening their mouth to respond, stopping as they looked down at their stomach and William chuckled in delight as Y/N’s belly growled loudly… Seems that answered that question.

“Let’s go bother our friend Chef!” William suggested, grabbing Y/N’s arm – again making the poor DA look startled – before Dark could stop William from suddenly transporting them all back to the Ego Estate.

“Whoa, dude!” Bing – sitting at the island and watching Chef – exclaimed as they were now standing in the kitchen, Y/N looking ill from the jump and William grinning in delight as he spotted Chef, who was looking at their sudden appearance with surprise of their own.

“I’m… Gonna be sick,” Y/N groaned before going to the sink and hurling, making Bing make a face – “Gross, bruh” he says – as Dark came to Y/N’s side, knowing damn well they were most likely throwing up vile and spit more than anything since the body was likely lacking any substance in its stomach.

“Well… Welcome back home you two,” Chef speaks up over Y/N’s groans, making Dark sigh and William’s grin widen as he too pats Y/N – rather roughly – on the back.

“Chef… Please be sure to set an extra seat for our guest here,” Dark sighs, getting a water bottle from the fridge by scooting William aside, pressing the cold water-bottle to the back of Y/N’s neck to cool them down, as they felt hot to the touch.

“They’re running a bit of a temp, bruh… I’ll get the doc!” Bing said rather loudly before departing the room, leaving them as Chef continued to cook.


End file.
